Can You See Me Now?
by The Evil Twin 413
Summary: Shadow and Kristin have broken up. But something's wrong with Kristin. Can Shadow figure it out before it's too late?
1. What We Once Had

Shadow hadn't been all too sure of exactly why he and Kristin had split up. He knew that they had exhausted countless reasons and excuses of why what they had could never work; he had just never been satisfied with any of them. He didn't know why Kristin had always been upset with him, or would snap at him at random intervals. He also couldn't comprehend the reason for her going off at him when he only mildly suggested that she might want to wear something other than red. His quills were streaked with the same red as her dresses, yet he couldn't bear to see her in that color, not after knowing the reason why. So she had left, with the only key to his heart around her neck.

The first time he had seen her after their break-up, she had looked so happy. She had been walking along with Cream the Rabbit and Amy Rose, chatting it up about the latest fashion. Completely happy and completely forgetting about him. Anger pricked at his senses, and he forced himself to walk away from the joyous scene before they noticed him. Before she noticed him. Why didn't she notice him? Did she not care anymore? Was what they had worthless? Gritting his teeth in pure frustration, he halted the downward spiral of his thoughts and shoved all memories of her to the back of his mind. He had to, if not for her sake, then for his sanity.

Later on, he had run into Amy out walking by herself. They had gotten a coffee and started talking randomly. First about what has happened, then about their friends. He should have known that discussing friends meant discussing her.

"So Shadow, have you talked to Kristin lately?" Amy peered at him over her iced latte, eyes hesitant. He growled.

"What do you think?" Like he'd talk to her. Not when she was doing so well without him. Not when she didn't need him anymore. Obviously, Amy could guess what he was thinking because she shot him a petrifying look.

"Shadow! You have to stop feeling sorry for yourself! I know you're upset about breaking up with her, but that doesn't mean you can't talk to her. She's a hedgehog too you know? She has feelings." Didn't she think he knew that? Shadow knew that he was being unreasonable, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Not wanting to hear it, Shadow stood up to leave but was stopped by Amy, her grip on his sleeve desperate.

"Talk to Kristin, Shadow. Something's changed and I don't know what it is. But I do know that she's different, and it's not for the better. Promise you'll talk to her?"

"I'll talk to her, for what good it will do me." With that, Shadow yanked his sleeve back. Amy watched him as he left, and wondered what would happen when Shadow finally figured it out. Amy sighed and got up to leave, pondering how it had all went wrong.


	2. Can Never Again

Second time he saw her, was once again at the mall. This time, there was no mistaking that something had changed. Gone was his vibrant girlfriend who had first drew him, instead replaced by this appalling shadow of a hedgehog that flinched every time someone came too close to her. Where was the excitement, the joy? The ability to smile even when everything had gone to hell? Where was that girl? Where was Kristin?

A crashing sound returned him to the present as his eyes focused on the somewhat disastrous scene that had unfolded before him without his knowledge. It appeared to him that Kristin had flinched so hard that she knocked into a stand for sunglasses. The poor black glasses skittered across the floor, while some were picked up by shoppers who casually walked off as if nothing had happened. The scene was absolutely comical and nearly made Shadow laugh. _Nearly_. For everything would have been much more amusing if Kristin wasn't silently crying.

"Kristin." Shadow was hesitant. He wanted to help her back up and in normal circumstances; he would have tripped over his own feet to help her. However, that wouldn't work now. Hell, he wasn't even supposed to still be in love with her. Pushing all worries aside, he forced himself to concentrate on getting Kristin up and into a chair at the food court, leaving whatever hapless sap that had been in charge of the stand to pick up the mess. Setting Kristin down, he watched as she up the pieces of her shattered pride, and regained her composure before facing him.

"What do you want Shadow?"

"Hello to you too."

"Cut the crap Shadow. I'm not interested in your games today. Tell me what you want or I'm leaving." She shifted slightly while hugging her arms up to her chest, a bruise peeking out of the blood red sleeve, almost invisible. Almost.

"Where did you get these bruises?" He lifted up her sleeve the rest of the way as he talked, revealing more bruises in retching stages of yellow and purple. He asked because he wanted to be wrong. He didn't need to ask because he already knew, whether he liked it or not.

"Nowhere. I just fell." Kristin couldn't actually lie, for the simple reason that she looked guilty because of the fact that she was lying. And Shadow knew enough to read her like an open book, no matter how hard she tried to cover it up.

"It was him, wasn't it?"

"Shadow, I…"

"No Kristin! You promised to tell me the second your father ever came back home. And what have you done? Played into his trap, that's what! Do you want this to happen again?"

"Shut up Shadow! You know nothing!"

"I know that it took three years for you to trust me because of what he's done to you. What I know is that you started wearing red dresses so that others couldn't figure out that you were bleeding, that you were hurt. And what I know is going to happen is that you'll go crawling back to him too, after all he's done."

"Go to hell Shadow! I do what I want now, you're not the boss of me and you're no longer my boyfriend so butt out of my life!" That was why she left. That was why he was no longer in her life. Her father had come back, and there was only enough room for one man in her heart. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who she picked.

"I'm sorry Shadow, but he's my father. What am I supposed to do?" If Shadow had known what was going to happen, he would have told her exactly what she could do with her father. Alas, he only turned and walked away, leaving behind a young black and red female hedgehog to go back home to her father.


	3. Be Obtained

Weeks later, Shadow found himself back at Kristin's apartment, eyes gazing onto the familiar door of apartment #662. The lady who owned these apartments let him in without fuss, already used to seeing him come and go there all of the time. Staring at the flaking red paint on the door, Shadow remembered helping her pick out her this apartment. She hadn't wanted to move in with him, claiming that she was needy and a bother. Although Shadow reassured her that she wasn't either of which, he conceded to her wishes to get her own apartment. This place was fairly remote, with a nice landlady and good rent. Honestly, it was a steal, and so Kristin had bought the apartment. Of course, that was then and this is now.

He knew that he needed to leave her alone, he really did. So far, he had gone out of his way to avoid her, guessing that she didn't want him in her life anymore. Not since her father returned. Hesitantly, Shadow knocked on the door, as if afraid of what he might find on the other side. As soon as he touched the door, it opened a little, giving Shadow a small glimpse of the side table he had got Kristin for a housewarming gift. The fact that the door was unlocked was startling. From the door to the stove, Kristin was nothing if not meticulously careful. Pushing the door open a bit farther, Shadow made a space just big enough to squeeze through. He shut the door behind him and crept further into the apartment.

As far as apartments go, this one wasn't all that great. If the price hadn't been outrageously cheap, Shadow would have never even thought of suggesting it for Kristin. Even though he had known that she couldn't afford a high-rise apartment, he didn't want to see her with a piece of crap either. This one had one bathroom, one bedroom, and a kitchenette that was also melded with a small dining room. Shadow made his way across the dining room, taking in all the assorted figurines. That was one of the quirks he loved about Kristin, her love for glass figurines. All sorts of figurines depicting the Pilsbury Doughboy, the Coca-Cola bear, the Keebler elves, and many other decorations that he could not recall the origin of or did not recognize covered every square inch of open space in that dining room. The only 'bare' area, the table, was decorated with a deep red table cloth and black placemats with intricately designed blue patterns. A simple fruit bowl acted as the centerpiece. That one made Shadow wince as he remembered the one he got for her. It was a kaleidoscopic centerpiece that made it so you could see the picture of Kristin, no matter which way you turned it. He took that picture when they were at the zoo. The usually introverted Kristin had been as joyfully fascinated as a young child. The glee on her face was heartwarming as dolphins swam around her and over her head, separated from her only by the glass dome surrounding her.

A muffled sound drew Shadow's ears towards the bedroom. Another sound, followed by another, sent Shadow quickly to the door. He stopped as he came to the door, hand resting on the doorknob. Following his instincts, he subtly pressed his ear to the door, willing his fur not to create one sound in fear of startling those on the other side. A smack, a sob, then Shadow bursting through the door, pissed to the high heavens. What he saw however, nearly made him shut the door.

There she was. Kristin. Beautiful, smart, Kristin. Curled up into a ball on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. Her hands were clenched in fear, nails digging into her palms and drawing blood. Her cheek was bloody, a shallow slice that had been done more for some sick, sadistic pleasure than for actually causing pain. Large chunks of hair had been yanked out, something Shadow knew Kristin was going to fret over later, when there was time. Her dress had been savagely ripped from her body, leaving little to the imagination. Shadow decided it was better for his sanity if he didn't question what else her ripped dress might mean. Shadow forced himself to look away in fear that he might get sick.

And standing there staring down at the terrified female hedgehog was none other than the bastard of all men, her father himself. One hand grasped tightly to a knife as if it was life support. Not noticing Shadow in the room, her father hadn't even bothered even bothered to stop using her as a punching bag, pounding his fists down on her like a heavyweight boxer.

"How did he know baby doll? Did you tell him? Have you betrayed me again?"

"No daddy, I swear to god I didn't tell him! He saw the bruises daddy! Shadow knew it was you…" _Wham!_ Quick as lightning, one of his fists shot out and nailed Kristin in the sliced cheek, making her cry out in pain and slump to the floor.

"Hey!" Shadow didn't even know it was him that cried out until afterwards, but regret it would not. Startled by the sudden intrusion of a third person, Kristin's father whipped around to face Shadow, knife blade glinting off the artificial light of the overhead lamp. Kristin herself weakly turned her head to face Shadow with a grave look. Shadow interpreted her look to mean that she was in a lot of pain. Gritting his teeth, he turned to face her father, promising murder in his eyes.

"What the hell are you think you're doing?"

"What am I doing? You're the one who's beating your own daughter to a pulp again! When will you learn to stay out of her life?" Snarling, her father threw himself at Shadow, knife arcing in a deadly swing. Shadow twisted his body to avoid the blade, and then slammed his entire weight into his assailant, knocking him off balance and sending them both crashing to the floor. The knife went flying somewhere as they grappled, trying to throttle the life out of each other. Kristin had crawled onto the bed by this point, deciding it was the best course of action to avoid getting smashed. She sat there in horror as her ex-boyfriend fought off her dad, trying his best to protect her.

It was awhile till the fighting came to a standstill. Shadow, still seeing red, had currently pinned the bastard to the floor, one hand around his throat and squeezing tighter. He was gasping for air, desperately clawing at every inch of Shadow he could reach.

Suddenly, the grip on his throat vanished as Shadow was knocked backwards. Kristin's father started to inhale copious amounts of air, trying to fight the black spots that were slowly creeping upon his vision. The spots won as he slipped into unconsciousness. Shadow, still slightly dazed, angrily looked up at his attacker and saw the last person he expected to see.

Kristin.


	4. Lost Forever

"You shouldn't have come." Shadow turned to look at Kristin, the still frail hedgehog standing a little taller and a little stronger, as if a breeze wouldn't knock her over. A fierce grip onto the railing, she tried her best to calm the trembling in her body.

"And why not? If I remember correctly, he was using you as his own form of a punching bag. Are you telling me you wanted that to happen?" His voice was steadily rising with each word. Had she wanted this? Was she angry with him? A thousand thoughts raced through his head, forcing him to take a deep breath and calm down. Tugging on his quills, the black and red male hedgehog faced Kristin and once again tried to reason with her, this time more calmly.

"Kristin….. Explain to me what you wanted me to do. Let me know whether or not what I did was the wrong thing. I thought I was helping you. Wasn't I?" His hopeful gaze met her sympathetic yet cold one, and he knew what was going to happen before she even said a word.

"I'm sorry Shadow, but I didn't want you to come, I never asked you to come. I told you I can take care of this on my own and I am." With three bruised ribs and a sliced thigh, Shadow believed he could easily disagree with that, but wisely kept his opinions to himself.

"Why Kristin? Why him? After all that he's done to you, why would you choose him?" One last ditch effort for Shadow to make Kristin understand that this wasn't the life she wanted. This wasn't the life she needed. So why? Why did she insist on going back to a life filled with pain and hurt? And why was she trying to shut him out?

"I know what I'm doing Shadow! This is my life! I know how to run it! Don't tell me what to do!" Shadow knew that if he gained any ground with Kristin, he had just lost it. She was livid, eyes narrowed in loathing and teeth clenched in hate. This was a problem he was well familiar with when it came to her. Kristin was one of the sweetest girls he knew, but absolutely detested being told she was doing something wrong. Shadow usually just let her try until she either threw in the towel in anger or got him to do it, the latter usually resulting in him getting yelled at for showing off.

"Listen Kristin…"

"No! You listen Shadow! This is my life! And I've decided that you're not going to be a part of it!" With that Kristin slammed the door in Shadow's face, leaving him to wonder exactly what just happened. Staring at the flaking paint on the red door, Shadow wondered what would happen to Kristin now. He figured she would probably make good on her threat and move away from here. From him. He also realized, he didn't really care. With that, Shadow finally walked away from that door and from the black and red hedgehog who he had once known.


	5. In The Seas Of Time

"Where is she Shadow?" Shadow looked up as he heard his name being called. An unreadable expression crossed his face as soon as he saw Amy there, a bright pink bag slung over her shoulder. He simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to his burger, pointedly ignoring Amy even as she slid into the booth across from him. She ordered a milkshake from the waiter, took a deep breath, and stared at Shadow. He knew he looked a little healthier, a far cry from the more jovial hedgehog he used to be, but not as depressed as what he recently was.

"Shadow!" Shadow looked up once again at Amy, ticked because she wouldn't leave him in peace. She glared right back, daring him to ignore her again. Deciding against it, Shadow set his burger back down onto his plate and gave her his full, undivided attention.

"What?" Amy obviously hadn't expected an answer from him as she had to pause momentarily to remember what exactly she was complaining to him about. Finding this amusing, Shadow snorted loudly, earning yet another glare from Amy with a sharp kick as well. Composing herself, she looked at Shadow expectantly, as if he could draw the question out of her head. Shadow took a drink and mused on this while watching Amy's anger steadily grow at his lack of response.

"Kristin, Shadow! Where is Kristin?" There had once been a time when Kristin's disappearance would have gotten him to turn all of Manhattan on its ear, but not now. Now he just shrugged casually and went back to his burger, sinking his teeth in to avoid making eye contact with Amy.

"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know? Wasn't the whole reason you went over to her house was to know that she was ok?" Visions danced behind Shadow's eyes of Kristin laying on the floor. Kristin smashing his skull with a lamp. Kristin facing him in the doorway, telling him she never wanted to see him again. He forced himself not to uselessly close his eyes against the onslaught of memories. He settled for attempting to burn a hole right through Amy with his best glare. Sadly, no such luck.

"What do you think it means Amy? It means I don't know! Kristin didn't want me in her life, so here I am, not worrying. If you want someone who's going to worry night and day about Kristin like I used to and frantically fret over every detail, also like I used to, then you can find some other poor sap because I'm not getting involved anymore! Kristin can go to hell for all I care!" Amy looked at Shadow like she had been struck and had this been any other time, Shadow would have kicked himself for snapping at her when she obviously didn't deserve it. But this wasn't a different time, this was now, and all Shadow could think about was how Kristin stomped all over his heart, how everyone was looking at him to go get her, to make this right, and about how all he really wanted was for everyone who looked at him with accusing or pitying eyes should burn in hell. Did he know where Kristin was? No. Did he want to know where she was? Yes. Would he look for her? Hell no. Kristin had it made clear what she wanted in life, just as she made it clear that he was no longer apart of those plans.

Unknowingly, Shadow had leapt to his feet while tearing Amy a new one. Now starting to calm down, he noticed that everyone in the café was staring at him. Appetite long since disappeared; Shadow left the café quickly, having already bought his food earlier. He didn't want to be around others, and he definitely did not want to be anywhere near Amy. It seemed though that Amy had other plans, as she chased after him, determined to get an actual answer from him or at least knock him around for a bit. Finally, she caught up with Shadow and, determined not to let him go again, grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him around to face her. Unfortunately for Shadow, Amy was much stronger now than she was when they were younger and her yanking Shadow back actually set him off balance a bit. Regaining his footing, Shadow turned around to look at Amy.

"What?" Amy looked at Shadow, fighting back tears. Shadow winced. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be able to just walk away, yet it seemed that in doing just that, he had made enemies of his own friends.

"Look Amy, I am worried about Kristin. She and I were together for a very long time and I loved her. I still do. However, Kristin vanished from my life, vanished from our lives, just as quickly and as quietly as she walked into them. I don't know where she's at, and frankly it's for the better. Eventually, I'll get over her. And so will you." Amy did nothing to hold back her tears now, and they came spilling down. The look of regret and sadness in her eyes drove into Shadow. He couldn't take this anymore and stalked off, determined to get on with his life.

And Amy was left there, standing in the street, trying to figure out what had went wrong, and knowing that she would never see her dear friend again. Kristin was truly gone. And that was all there was to it.


End file.
